An international panel of experts from The Heart Rhythm Society and the European Heart Rhythm Association issued new guideline recommendations for all health care professionals about cardiovascular genetic testing at the Heart Rhythm Society's 32nd Annual Scientific Sessions.

Silvia G. Priori, MD, PhD, a leader in the field of inherited cardiovascular diseases and director of the Cardiovascular Genetics Program at NYU Langone Medical Center, was co-lead author of the HRS/EHRA Expert Consensus Statement on the State of Genetic Testing for the Channelopathies and Cardiomyopathies. The complete guidelines will be published in the August 2011 issue of the HeartRhythm Journal and Europace.

The new overarching recommendations about cardiac genetic testing include:

Genetic counseling is recommended for all patients and relatives with the familial heart diseases detailed in the document and should include discussion of the risks, benefits and options available for clinical testing and/or genetic testing.

Treatment decisions should not rely solely on his/her genetic test result but should be based on an individuals' comprehensive clinical evaluation.

It can be useful for pre-genetic test counseling, genetic testing, and the interpretation of genetic test results to be performed in centers experienced in the genetic evaluation and family-based management of the heritable arrhythmia syndromes and cardiomyopathies described in the document.

The goal of the authors was to evaluate the role of genetic testing and ensure that all physicians have the latest knowledge about the potentially life-saving screening for patients with cardiac conditions that may predispose them to sudden cardiac death and other genetic heart diseases.

"Genetic testing cannot be viewed as a one-size fits all solution, but should be considered for each disease state," said Dr. Priori, who is also director of Molecular Cardiology and Electrophysiology Laboratories at Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri University in Pavia, Italy. "The recommendations outlined in this document can and should be used as guidance on how each potential disease is evaluated with respect to genetic testing, keeping in mind that each patient is different."

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Under Dr. Priori's leadership, NYU Langone's Cardiovascular Genetics Program offers genetic testing, counseling and treatment to patients who may be at risk for inherited cardiac conditions causing dangerous arrhythmias. It has the most comprehensive program in cardiovascular genetics in the United States and the first of its kind in New York City. Dr. Priori has collected one of the world's largest databases of patients with genetic cardiac arrhythmias discovering genes and genetic variations that predispose patients to these conditions. In addition, Dr. Priori established the world's largest cardiac genetics laboratory, database and clinic at the Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri University in Pavia, Italy.

About NYU Langone Medical Center

NYU Langone Medical Center, a world-class patient-centered integrated academic medical center, is one of the nation's premier centers for excellence in health care, biomedical research, and medical education. Located in the heart of Manhattan, NYU Langone is comprised of three hospitals--Tisch Hospital, a 705-bed acute-care tertiary facility, Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, the first rehabilitation hospital in the world, with 174 beds and extensive outpatient rehabilitation programs, and the 190-bed Hospital for Joint Diseases, one of only five hospitals in the world dedicated to orthopaedics and rheumatology--plus the NYU School of Medicine, one of the nation's preeminent academic institutions. For more information, visit http://www.med.nyu.edu/.

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